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Post by dans on Jan 20, 2023 20:22:30 GMT
Our Who's Who Earth 1 timeline says that the first super villain Superboy ever captured was named the flame, and he was a guy who wore an asbestos hazard protection suit and used a flame thrower. The first super villain the Martian Manhunter ever fought was named 'The Human Flame' and he wore a less bulky costume and shot flames from several nozzles on his chest. I wonder if the two villains are somehow related?
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Post by DocQuantum on Jan 20, 2023 20:26:02 GMT
Ooh, good catch. That could be a good idea to explore. In my mind the Flame is also the Earth-1 counterpart of a character that the Earth-2 Superman once fought, possibly in the comic strips if I’m remembering correctly.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Jan 20, 2023 23:53:36 GMT
Ooh, good catch. That could be a good idea to explore. In my mind the Flame is also the Earth-1 counterpart of a character that the Earth-2 Superman once fought, possibly in the comic strips if I’m remembering correctly. I believe you are thinking of the Blaze. He was a Nazi saboteur in a flaming suit |
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Post by DocQuantum on Jan 21, 2023 0:25:42 GMT
Ooh, good catch. That could be a good idea to explore. In my mind the Flame is also the Earth-1 counterpart of a character that the Earth-2 Superman once fought, possibly in the comic strips if I’m remembering correctly. I believe you are thinking of the Blaze. He was a Nazi saboteur in a flaming suit You are correct, sir. Though I'm thinking the Earth-1 Flame is just a criminal, not a saboteur of any political stripe. |
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Post by dans on Jan 21, 2023 0:55:36 GMT
we know almost nothing about the original Flame who was captured by Superboy in one of his earliest cases. At least a few people in Smallville recognized him in first appearance (here: comiconlinefree.net/world-s-finest-comics/issue-65 Page 7) so he must have made earlier appearances that haven't been chronicled yet, we don't even know his civilian name. (you can _almost_ read his car's license plate - it might end in 764?) but we do know he went to jail. Superboy thinks it is going to be 'for a long term', but that isn't confirmed. There is nothing to tie him to 'The Human Flame', but I just noted that each of these Flame guys was the first superhuman foe for both Superboy and the Martian Manhunter - so it seemed like it might be fun if they are the same guy, or they know each other - perhaps they were cell mates in prison... The Blaze and one or both of the Flames could be the same person on both Earths, but probably wasn't a Nazi or a saboteur on Earth 1. |
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Post by dave on Jan 21, 2023 1:49:40 GMT
FYI Superboy's first costumed supper-villain was an obese man named Robert Hobb, whose super-villain name was Humpty- Dumpty and was also known as the Hobby Robber. He fought the Boy Blockbuster 6 times. First in Superboy vol 1 #6 January 1950 through Superboy vol 1 #9 July 1950, then in Superboy Vol 1 #11 November 1950. Thirty-one years later he show up for final appearance. now calling himself the Curator in the Daring New Adventures of Superboy Vol 1 #24 December 1981
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Post by redsycorax on Jan 21, 2023 1:53:47 GMT
Here's a look at the Flame, the aforementioned early apprehended Superboy felon , who has no name and who seems to have a flame retardant uniform and flamethrower as part of his modus operandi, from "The Confessions of Superman", Worlds Finest 65 (June 1953): dc.fandom.com/wiki/Flame_(Earth_One)Mark Miller (the Human Flame) turned up in Detective Comics 274 (December 1959), several years later. Unlike Superboy's Flame, Miller didn't bother to conceal his identity and didn't wear a flame retardant uniform. As well as that, he had a built-in blowtorch. He was eventually apprehended by J'Onn grabbing the ground he was on and elevating it to the height that the insufficient oxygen snuffed out his abilities: dc.fandom.com/wiki/Michael_Miller_(New_Earth)dc.fandom.com/wiki/Detective_Comics_Vol_1_274Given that the Flame seems to have concealed his identity, it is plausible that he could have refined his modus operandi and clashed several years later with J'Onn, after earlier being apprehended by Superboy, although the Superboy reference argues that the Flame served a 'long prison sentence'. It is possible that if they were the same person, Miller temporarily escaped from prison six years after his initial sentence began and J'Onn then apprehended him in turn. Much of J'Onn's rogues gallery seemed to consist of other (mostly White) Martians, and his human adversaries tended to be quite ephemeral. The Human Flame is an exception, given J'Onn's vulnerability to flame, but the Crime Conjuror, Falcon II, Korge, King Zeus, Mister Moth and the organisation VULTURE appear to have put in only a single or dual appearances at most: dc.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Martian_Manhunter_villains |
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Post by dans on Jan 21, 2023 3:27:00 GMT
nothing in that wiki for the Flame, Red, as far as I can see... but my earlier post has a link to an online copy of the comic. The 5EP Earth 1 timeline says this about the Flame: June, 1958 June 1: Gen. Charles de Gaulle becomes the premier of France, remaining in power until 1969. June 11: Superboy makes his debut in Smallville and meets President Eisenhower. [More Fun Comics #101; Superman #144] June 12: Superboy's first costumed foe is the Flame, a man carrying a flame-thrower and dressed in an asbestos suit. [World's Finest Comics #65]and in World's Finest #65, Superman himself says "One of the first such criminals I had to fight was a crook known as "The Flame". But the only place the Flame actually appears or is mentioned is in that single story in Worlds Finest #65 - he was created by the writer for that specific story rather than doing his research and drawing a character from an existing story. Since Superman says 'one of the first' rather than 'the first' that doesn't conflict with what Dave reports about Humpty Dumpty. If we want to be OCD about this, it seems like our timeline might be tweaked a bit to say 'One of Superboy's first costumed foes is the Flame...'. Or we could assume that the timeline is correct and nobody ever recorded the real story of the Flame back in the early Superboy comics...
Here is an enhanced image from the Flame's single 3 panel DC Comics appearance in Worlds Finest #65 from 1953.
I'm planning to use the Flame in my Gravity Girl Elseworld story - this is how I reimagine him during his original appearance:
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And this is his new costume and weapon after he has been released from prison
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